Alabama Football: A Quick Look at LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn Games

Come on boys, we have heard all the noise. It is time produce if the team has the juice. Alabama is fresh off its midseason vacation to heal and get ready for the final push. The Tide will face a very formidable LSU team this week.

Let’s take a look and see how much Alabama needed to improve during this off week to catch and possibly overcome the remaining opponents on their schedule. Alabama is now essentially a nine-win team as there is little doubt that it will handle Georgia State.

LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn remain on the schedule and these are the teams we will take a look at.

There is some great information about these teams available this late in the season. There are several common opponents to compare. This should give football fans a look at where Alabama was coming into this break, and where it will have to be coming out of it to be competitive.

Note: Auburn has played six conference games at this point while Alabama, LSU and Mississippi State have only played five conference games. This must be taken into account in the SEC totals section of the comparison. 

LSU vs. Alabama

Statistic	LSU	Alabama
Passing Offense	224 yards	202 yards
Rushing Offense	161 yards	170 yards
Total Offense	385 yards	372 yards
Scoring Offense	33 points	31 points
Pass Defense	154 yards	202 yards
Rush Defense	89 yards	79 yards
Total Defense	243 yards	281 yards
Scoring defense	29 points	6 points
SEC Totals
Passing Offense	776 yards	1278 yards
Rushing Offense	942 yards	721 yards
Total Offense	1718 yards	1999 yards
Pass Defense	617 yards	1026 yards
Rush Defense	842 yards	545 yards
Total Defense	1459 yards	1571 yards

The one thing this comparison does not show is how much better LSU’s special teams are. In my opinion this gives LSU the slight edge this weekend. LSU -4

Mississippi State Vs. Alabama

Statistic	Mississippi State	Alabama
Passing Offense	33 yards	202 yards
Rushing Offense	212 yards	170 yards
Total Offense	245 yards	372 yards
Scoring Offense	10 points	31 points
Pass Defense	210 yards	202 yards
Rush Defense	151 yards	79 yards
Total Defense	361 yards	281 yards
Scoring defense	7 points	6 points
SEC Totals
Passing Offense	537 yards	776 yards
Rushing Offense	800 yards	942 yards
Total Offense	1337 yards	1718 yards
Pass Defense	900 yards	617 yards
Rush Defense	710 yards	842 yards
Total Defense	1610 yards	1459 yards

This should be a low scoring slugfest that will be entertaining for fans of hard hits and good defensive football. Alabama has the edge in every respect however. My pick is Alabama -7.

Auburn Vs. Alabama

Statistic
Passing Offense	169 yards	242.66 yards
Rushing Offense	335.66 yards	121 yards
Total Offense	504.66 yards	363.66 yards
Scoring Offense	50.33 points	22.66 points
Pass Defense	307.33 yards	222.66 yards
Rush Defense	145 yards	102.33 yards
Total Defense	452.33 yards	304.99 yards
Scoring defense	33.66 points	21.66 points
SEC Totals
Passing Offense	981 yards	776 yards
Rushing Offense	1948 yards	942 yards
Total Offense	2929 yards	1718 yards
Pass Defense	1405 yards	617 yards
Rush Defense	777 yards	842 yards
Total Defense	2182 yards	1459 yards

This is a rivalry game and it is simply too soon to put a number on it.